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Thanatology is literally the "study of death". It encompasses a wide area of studies; everything from the grief process, to the biology of dying, to pandemics, to the social views on death. My area is historical/anthropological. I study cultural views on death and how they are reflected in death rituals (funerals, wakes, etc) and social structure. So in a way, this case fits perfectly within my area.

Many people accuse me of being pro-death because of what I do, but I am a thanotologist because I have a great respect for life. Death is taken way to lightly in our society, there was a time when the death of a person was a communal event where the person was celebrated. Today, we are so surrounded by death we become desensitized to it. It is a great shame.